


Who's to Say We're Real?

by AKioshiWarrior



Category: Animaniacs
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Dissociation, Gen, Introspection, getting a look at the relationship between humans and toons, more exposition based with some world building stuff, no beta we die like fools, no plot really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:34:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28720563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AKioshiWarrior/pseuds/AKioshiWarrior
Summary: This isn't much of a story, more like a philosophical take on toons and their place in a world with humans. Hopefully, this will provide a background to other fics I plan on writing!
Relationships: Dot Warner & Wakko Warner & Yakko Warner
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	Who's to Say We're Real?

Yakko Warner was not confident in his state of being. It had been 20 years since they were put into… “suspended animation”. They didn’t return looking the same. They had no memories from the time they spent comatose. It was off putting, the amount of control the humans had over them. More disturbing was the lack of hesitation they had when holding the toons’ lives.

The relationship between Toons and Humans is a tricky one. You have a species that has a multitude of theologies explaining their presence. Many believe in some divine creator, be it a single being or multiple. They believe they have a purpose. Others are less likely to believe these tales and continue on with their lives. All can agree on a ruling aspect of their lives: mortality.

Toons do not have this luxury. That is to say, they have no god, their creators being human. They have no “purpose” outside of entertaining people. They’re not even sure what their relationship with mortality is. When shows were cancelled, toons would either move to Toontown or disappear completely. Yakko was aware of the disappearances. He knew about Dip. He feigned ignorance, hoping it would prevent him and his siblings from receiving the same fate. 

There were other aspects of Toons’ lives that remained a mystery. Why did some Toons age while others didn’t? What were the factors determining a Toon’s ability to have children? Is it possible for Toons to die from illness? Could they sustain physical injuries?

Yakko had limited interactions with other toons, so he didn’t have the opportunity to get answers. He did, however, hear many humans’ thoughts on the matter.

Humans were divided into roughly two groups when it came to the lives of Toons. One camp believed that they should be treated with the same amount of respect as humans. They saw them as independent and intelligent beings, capable of emotion and comprehension. The others were not as kind.

Toons are ideas. Mere concepts, incapable of reason or feeling. Sure, they had behaviors that mimicked those of a competent organism, but that’s all they were. A lie.

Yakko found these theories both interesting and unnerving. He knew he had feelings. He knew that he loved his siblings. He knew anger upon being locked in the tower. He knew pain and suffering, and he knew joy and hope. At least, he thought he knew.

And that was one of the arguments that got under his skin the most. “You  _ think _ you’re real. You  _ think _ you can feel. But you can’t, really.”

He found himself doubting his emotions and reactions more frequently. He was looking at his life from an outsider’s perspective. He wasn’t really alive, was he? And if he wasn’t alive or real, or whatever it was, then his siblings weren’t either. They were just created to  _ believe _ that they were.

They were created to perform.

And that is what they’d do.


End file.
